Juried show Seventy Five Dollars to Enter Two Hundred More if you are Chosen

So I just read a call to artists from a “Non Profit.” The entry rate was seventy five dollars and if you are chosen then you have to pay an additional two hundred dollars. One hundred and seventy five photographers will make it to the final, times that by two hundred dollars each and you get $35,000 just from the top finalists alone. I don’t know about you, but I smell a fish here. Many non profit associations have chairs that make big money, as well as staff to pay, and that is fine. My real issue is with the cost of the entry. What are we coming to, the more money you can dish out, the more you will be in front of better jurors. Then maybe you will get noticed, and if not just go back to your studio and try again. I don’t know what a good solution to all this is, but I feel artists are taken advantage of a lot, and it is sad. If you have any thoughts, or solutions I would love to hear them.

Follow up from John

Hi, I have entered a few contests and discovered its exactly like you describe. People use the blind faith and desperation of hopeful artists to exploit them in varying degrees. Not all contests one pays to enter act this way… But some companies exist solely because of income from artists not sales. Therein lies the problem. Companies that offer more than a show in a big city are more favorable. Studios for a year, art supplies travel vouchers, workshops and cash awards make more sense to me. Something to help an emerging artist continue to evolve makes the most sense. In America we tend to make artist superstars early on, and often their early charge creates a niche from which there is marketability but personal growth and evolution can be stymied…. John